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Temple coach Rod Carey lauded by former boss at Northern Illinois

North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren, who hired Carey at Northern Illinois, says the new Temple coach is “entirely different than your last coach.”

Rod Carey took over after Geoff Collins left for Georgia Tech.
Rod Carey took over after Geoff Collins left for Georgia Tech.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- From a personality standpoint, the difference between former Temple coach Geoff Collins and new coach Rod Carey is like night and day, at least to a person who was instrumental in Carey’s rise.

North Carolina State head coach Dave Doeren first hired Carey as an assistant at Northern Illinois and then promoted him to offensive coordinator.

When Doeren left to become N.C. State’s coach, he was replaced by Carey.

“He’s entirely different than your last coach,” Doeren said during the Atlantic Coast Conference’s football media day on Wednesday, referring to Collins, who is now the head coach at Georgia Tech. “[Carey] is not into social media, and I am not saying that is bad, but it is a lot different than Geoff.”

Collins never met a microphone he didn’t like, while Carey is affable but business-like.

“Geoff is a social media machine and Rod is the opposite,” Doeren said. “He is all about coaching football and will coach and develop and recruit, and that is what he is.”

Doeren hired Carey as offensive line coach at NIU in 2011. Carey had been the offensive line coach at the University of North Dakota the three previous seasons, 2008 to 2010.

In 2012, NIU’s offensive coordinator, Mike Dunbar, got lung cancer. Dunbar, who later died, was replaced by Carey after one game in the 2012 season.

“Rod was our offensive line coach [that first season] and knew our offense better than anybody at the time,” said Doeren, who is entering his seventh season as N.C. State’s coach. “… Rod learned a lot from Mike and it was kind of natural for me to elevate him at the time. He did a great job. He took the opportunity and ran with it.”

NIU won a second straight Mid-American Championship in 2012, and before NIU played in the Orange Bowl, Doeren departed for N.C. State.

Carey was named the head coach before the Orange Bowl.

After going 52-30 with two MAC championships and four West Division titles, Carey landed at Temple.

“I think it is a really good fit,” Doeren said. “Rod is a blue-collar guy. He recruited in Chicago, which is similar to recruiting [in Philadelphia]. I think it is a really good fit for them.”